Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
Domingo; Stemme
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Pappano
EMI 558 0062 (3CD)

Release date September 2005

The great Swedish soprano, Birgit Nilsson, was once asked what it was like to sing Isolde opposite an unappealing Tristan. “Oh”, she said, “I just close my eyes and think of Placido Domingo.” Alas, she never sang it with him; Domingo has waited until the twilight of his career before committing Wagner’s most unreasonably demanding tenor role to disc. He’s still in magnificent voice; he’s as convincing in Tristan’s tortured Act 3 monologues as in the courtly exchanges of Act 1, and along with many other Wagnerians I’m extremely glad that he has finally had the chance to record it. Although it’s the first studio recording for many years – I think that it’s the first since Carlos Kleiber’s in the early 1980s – there’s a good case for recording it this way, as both of the title roles are so fearsomely demanding. Few Isoldes in the theatre could deliver Ich bin’s ich bin’s, süssester Freund! with the poise and beauty of Nina Stemme here, for instance – although Christine Brewer did this scene beautifully in Edinburgh recently. Against the odds, EMI has found an Isolde not only able to live with Domingo, but who is comparable with the best Isoldes on record. René Pape’s King Marke is another distinguished performance - it’s good to have this fine interpretation preserved on disc. Neither Olaf Bär’s Kurwenal nor Mihoko Fujimura’s Brangäne are quite in the same class; Fujimura hardly effaces memories of Christa Ludwig, while Bär lacks Kurwenal’s lowest notes. Further down the batting order we find Ian Bostridge as a touching Shepherd and – luxury casting, this! – Rolando Villazón as a decidedly Latin-sounding Sailor. Unusually, the singers were placed inside the orchestra, between the strings and winds, with the orchestra given upfront (although not oppressively close) sound. The results are nothing like anything that you might experience in a theatre; for one thing, the singers never disappear beneath the orchestral texture, as Wagner surely intended them to do from time to time. In Acts 1 and 3, the physicality of the sound makes for an extremely intense experience. In Act 2, I’m not sure that Wagner expected the text to be always so explicit. The playing of the Covent Garden Orchestra can certainly stand the close scrutiny it receives here. Pappano’s direction is far more assured than his recent Covent Garden Walküre. The symphonic sweep of Act 1 has tremendous grip, with the famous Prelude given a fine, spacious reading, while Pappano and Domingo achieve extraordinary things in Act 3. EMI’s presentation, with lots of illustrations, is in the luxury class. No matter how many Tristans you have, you probably need this!

Sandy Matheson